Gentile Meaning
/ˈd͡ʒɛntaɪl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjNon-Jewish.
adjHeathen, pagan.
Sentence Examples
A gentile gave Esther's family a place to hide during the Nazi occupation of Budapest.
The word "gentile" is derived from a Latin translation of the Hebrew word "goy."
The museum features a collection of Jewish and gentile historical artifacts.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The term ____ refers to any person who is not Jewish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Historically, the term ____ was often used to refer to someone who was not of the Jewish faith.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gentīlis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), morphologically from gēns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -īlis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle, genteel, jaunty, and Gentoo. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This ſhall bring down the Judgment upon Rome, preſently after the Appearance of Antichriſt: and as upon Rome, ſo alſo upon all the Gentile Chriſtians, who have a Name to live but are dead, being fallen away from their Firſt Love and Faith, and ſo having made themſelves Veſſels fit for Deſtruction, when this ſore Judgment ſhall go forth."
— 1711, [John Hildrop], “The Preface”, in A Treatise of the Three Evils of the Last Times: […], London: Printed by M. J. for R[obert] Knaplock […], R. and J. Bonwicke […], and H. Clements […], →OCLC, pages lxxiv–lxxv:
"If we read the Epistles of St. Paul, we shall soon discover what efforts the Jewish converts made to bring the Gentile converts into the observance of every Jewish custom compatible with christianity:^([sic]) and as we do not discover in those Epistles any traces of a dispute on this head between the Jewish and Gentile converts, we may fairly conclude that the Gentile converts adopted without hesitation the time-honoured manner of praising the true God made use of by the Jewish converts, instead of the Pagan mode of singing, which was then associated in their minds with every thing unclean and abominable."
— 1847, William Kelly, “Introduction”, in A Grammar of Gregorian, or Plain Chant Music, London: Thomas Richardson and Son, […], →OCLC, pages 11–12:
"Down in the workshop all the elves were makin' toys
For the good gentile girls and the good gentile boys"
— 1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “The Night Santa Went Crazy”, in Bad Hair Day:
"There is further evidence of the fact that both Romans and the Herodians distinguished Jewish from Gentile areas and treated them differently. Herod did not produce pagan coins, bearing an image of Augustus or himself, but rather good Jewish coins. It is noteworthy that he built numerous pagan buildings, including temples honouring Augustus and an amphitheater for Greek games, and he donated gymnasia to territories that he did not govern: […] But (and this is a very big "but") he put none of these Gentile/pagan buildings in the Jewish parts of his domain."
— 2001, E[d] P[arish] Sanders, “Jesus in Galilee”, in Doris Donnelly, editor, Jesus: A Colloquium in the Holy Land, New York, N.Y.; London: Continuum International Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 14:
"[John] Bale, following Annius [Annio da Viterbo], argued that druids, bards and other ‘gentile’ (pagan) priests had preserved from Noah’s time the memory of a true religion that believed ‘that there is one God, immortal and incomprehensible’ (‘unum esse Deum immortalem, et incomprehensibilem ...’)."
— 2013, Marion Gibson, Imagining the Pagan Past: Gods and Goddesses in Literature and History since the Dark Ages, Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 26:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The term ____ refers to any person who is not Jewish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Historically, the term ____ was often used to refer to someone who was not of the Jewish faith.